How to track a single bitcoin?

[Sir_lagsalot]

Hey guys, im looking for a way I can track a single bitcoin, in who currently owns it, and what address it has been sent to, etc. This would be alot more helpful in understanding how a site's system works.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Hey guys, im looking for a way I can track a single bitcoin, in who currently owns it, and what address it has been sent to, etc. This would be alot more helpful in understanding how a site's system works.

just simply enter the txid or transaction hash in blockchain (you can simply use this url http://www.blockchain.info/tx/put_the_Tx_id_here or using blockr.io service just fill in the transaction hash in the form

[ranochigo]

Go to https://blockchain.info/tx/[Insert TXID here]. And press view treechart. You can then click on the output to check where it has been spent to.

[USB-S]

In my opinion https://www.blockseer.com/ does this function the best, with a nice GUI.

[DannyHamilton]

It can't be done.

To start with, the concept of "a bitcoin" is just an abstraction that we humans use to make it easier to discuss the transfer of control of value. When it comes to actual transactions and blocks in the blockchain, there aren't really any "bitcoins".  Block explorers attempt to represent the transactions using the concept of bitcoins moving around, and in many cases that abstraction works just fine, but it completely falls apart when you try to follow "a single bitcoin" or "a single satoshi" around.

Another flawed analogy (but one that may work for this discussion) is to think of bitcoins as small lumps of gold:

Lets say that I have a lump of gold that is worth 2 bitcoins (we'll call that "bitcoin A" and "bitcoin B"), and another lump of gold that is worth 3 bitcoins (we'll call that "bitcoin C", "bitcoin D", and "bitcoin E".  I want to "follow bitcoin A around". Now lets pretend that I want to send someone 4 bitcoins worth of gold.  I put my two lumps into a pot and melt them together.  Then I pour out 4 bitcoins of the liquid gold and let it cool and solidify into a lump.  I then pour the remaining 1 bitcoin worth of gold out and let it solidify into a lump.  I hand the 4 bitcoin lump of gold to someone.

Where is "bitcoin A"?  All 5 bitcoins were blended together in the pot.  There's no way to distinguish which is which. The 1 bitcoin that I kept is probably made up of approximately one-fifth of each of the original bitcoins, but there is no guarantee that it contains exactly one-fifth of the gold atoms of each.

When bitcoin transactions occur, this analogy describes what essentially happens.

Each output previously received has a value (just like the two starting lumps of gold have a value in the analogy, an output is a lump).  Those outputs are used as inputs to the transaction (the lumps are put into the pot in the analogy).  The total value of all the inputs is then available for the transaction to assign to new outputs (the analogy of melting the gold represents this, all the gold value is available to be split up however we like).  The transaction pours out value into each of the new outputs that it creates (just like the gold is poured out in the analogy), but unless there is only 1 input to the transaction, there is nothing that makes any 1 input directly responsible for any 1 output (in the analogy, if we only put 1 lump of gold into the pot, and then poured out one or more new lumps, it would be clear exactly which starting lump was responsible for the resulting lumps since there was only one starting lump).

[avw1982]

Hey guys, im looking for a way I can track a single bitcoin, in who currently owns it, and what address it has been sent to, etc. This would be alot more helpful in understanding how a site's system works.

just simply enter the txid or transaction hash in blockchain (you can simply use this url http://www.blockchain.info/tx/put_the_Tx_id_here or using blockr.io service just fill in the transaction hash in the form

yeah I this is the way. If you someone your public address for receiving a payment or when you send him some bitcoin. he can track this address and see it's  balance. If you reusing the same address again is a very important aspect of privacy.

[btcdevil]

thanks guys it has given me a lot of information about tracking the transaction of sending or receiving the bitcoins , i have gone through the process and even we can check the balance of that address that how much bitcoin he has got in his wallet addres

[novgod]

It can't be done.

To start with, the concept of "a bitcoin" is just an abstraction that we humans use to make it easier to discuss the transfer of control of value. When it comes to actual transactions and blocks in the blockchain, there aren't really any "bitcoins".  Block explorers attempt to represent the transactions using the concept of bitcoins moving around, and in many cases that abstraction works just fine, but it completely falls apart when you try to follow "a single bitcoin" or "a single satoshi" around.

Another flawed analogy (but one that may work for this discussion) is to think of bitcoins as small lumps of gold:

Lets say that I have a lump of gold that is worth 2 bitcoins (we'll call that "bitcoin A" and "bitcoin B"), and another lump of gold that is worth 3 bitcoins (we'll call that "bitcoin C", "bitcoin D", and "bitcoin E".  I want to "follow bitcoin A around". Now lets pretend that I want to send someone 4 bitcoins worth of gold.  I put my two lumps into a pot and melt them together.  Then I pour out 4 bitcoins of the liquid gold and let it cool and solidify into a lump.  I then pour the remaining 1 bitcoin worth of gold out and let it solidify into a lump.  I hand the 4 bitcoin lump of gold to someone.

Where is "bitcoin A"?  All 5 bitcoins were blended together in the pot.  There's no way to distinguish which is which. The 1 bitcoin that I kept is probably made up of approximately one-fifth of each of the original bitcoins, but there is no guarantee that it contains exactly one-fifth of the gold atoms of each.

When bitcoin transactions occur, this analogy describes what essentially happens.

Each output previously received has a value (just like the two starting lumps of gold have a value in the analogy, an output is a lump).  Those outputs are used as inputs to the transaction (the lumps are put into the pot in the analogy).  The total value of all the inputs is then available for the transaction to assign to new outputs (the analogy of melting the gold represents this, all the gold value is available to be split up however we like).  The transaction pours out value into each of the new outputs that it creates (just like the gold is poured out in the analogy), but unless there is only 1 input to the transaction, there is nothing that makes any 1 input directly responsible for any 1 output (in the analogy, if we only put 1 lump of gold into the pot, and then poured out one or more new lumps, it would be clear exactly which starting lump was responsible for the resulting lumps since there was only one starting lump).

This is it. That's the untraceability thing explained.

[helloeverybody]

You can trace all the transactions and find out where that bitcoin ended up or multiple parts of it but identifing what company/person owns each address is near on impossible.

[virtualx]

Hey guys, im looking for a way I can track a single bitcoin, in who currently owns it, and what address it has been sent to, etc. This would be alot more helpful in understanding how a site's system works.

Technically you can track only satoshis, not bitcoins. This is because satoshis are encoded in the blockchain. The chain itself doesn't "know" bitcoins.
If you go to a blockchain explorer you can track the addresses the satoshis are transferred to.  The whole bitcoin may be split up into several addresses, so it is quite confusing to keep track of transactions.  In addition, there is no way of telling which satoshi is which. If you look at a blockchain transaction you will simply see a number.

Bitcoin itself is only a concept for understanding, as DannyHamilton said.

Here is a bitcoin transaction as encoded in the blockchain:

Code:

{
   "lock_time":0,
   "ver":1,
   "size":226,
   "inputs":[
      {
         "sequence":4294967295,
         "prev_out":{
            "spent":true,
            "tx_index":114922374,
            "type":0,
            "addr":"1C6kBMai6ui7vrVvu2ZZjaNdNG3iDmSqF1",
            "value":160767,
            "n":1,
            "script":"76a91479bf81ce465c71779b2410561b619b1bbca01cbe88ac"
         },
 

They simply encode "value". Which satoshi is which? There is no way of telling.  A bitcoin transaction can have 1 or more inputs and 1 or more outputs. To conclude, technically you can't track individual bitcoins or satoshis.

[ArpFlush]

In my opinion https://www.blockseer.com/ does this function the best, with a nice GUI.

Nice tool, thx for sharing. 

[DannyHamilton]

Technically you can track only satoshis, not bitcoins.
- snip -
To conclude, technically you can't track individual bitcoins or satoshis.

Um?

Perhaps you might want to think about what you are saying a bit before you say it?

You start by saying that "Technically you can track satoshis", and then you give a long explanation and conclude with "technically you can't track satoshis"?

That certainly isn't very clear, and logical thought indicates that one of those two statements must be false.

Also regarding the following:

- snip -
Here is a bitcoin transaction as encoded in the blockchain:

Code:

{
   "lock_time":0,
   "ver":1,
   "size":226,
   "inputs":[
      {
         "sequence":4294967295,
         "prev_out":{
            "spent":true,
            "tx_index":114922374,
            "type":0,
            "addr":"1C6kBMai6ui7vrVvu2ZZjaNdNG3iDmSqF1",
            "value":160767,
            "n":1,
            "script":"76a91479bf81ce465c71779b2410561b619b1bbca01cbe88ac"
         },

- snip -

No.  That is not how a bitcoin is encoded in the blockchain.

In actual transactions (in the blockchain or otherwise), none of that information that you have included under "prev_out" is included in any of the inputs.  That is all derived information or information that has been created by the block explorer that you are using.

In an actual transaction each input consists of only:

• A 32 byte hash of the transaction that created the output that is being spent
• A 4 byte index indicating which output created by that transaction is being spent
• 1 to 9 bytes indicating the length of the txin-script (often called "scriptSig")
• A txin-script that contains all the necessary information to satisfy the spending requirements that the output was encumbered with. (generally this is an ECDSA signature and a public key)
• A 4 byte sequence number that is typically 0xFFFFFFFF and irrelevant unless the transaction has a locktime that is greater than 0

The only place that the transaction specifies "value" is in the outputs that it creates.  Each output consists of only:

• An 8 byte value indicating how many satoshis are being assigned to the output (notice, it's not "which" satoshis, just "how many")
• 1 to 9 bytes indicating the length of the txout-script (often called "scriptPubKey")
• A txin-script that encumbers the output with requirements that must be satisfied in order for any spending of the output to be considered valid by any node enforcing the consensus rules. (generally this is a pay-to-pubkey-hash script or pay-to-script-hash script)

[Decoded]

There is no such thing as a complete bitcoin. A bitcoin is an amount, not a thing. You can track where the bitcoin goes, but it's extremely hard to find what block your bitcoin was mined from.

[Graphics]

There is no such thing as a complete bitcoin. A bitcoin is an amount, not a thing. You can track where the bitcoin goes, but it's extremely hard to find what block your bitcoin was mined from.

That is not true... You can just keep clicking to the address that sent you the BTC and you'll eventually find the block that it's minted from.

[DannyHamilton]

There is no such thing as a complete bitcoin. A bitcoin is an amount, not a thing. You can track where the bitcoin goes, but it's extremely hard to find what block your bitcoin was mined from.

That is not true... You can just keep clicking to the address that sent you the BTC and you'll eventually find the block that it's minted from.

Decoded is correct.

Graphics is just saying things with no understanding about how bitcoin works at all.  What he said is definitely not correct.

Here is an example, imagine the following:

A block is mined by Alfred and the reward of 25.612 BTC is paid to ADDRESS A
A block is mined by Betty and the reward of 25.169 BTC is paid to ADDRESS B

Alfred buys something from Charlie for 0.5 BTC.  Alfred sends 0.5 BTC to ADDRESS C, and sends the remaining 25.112 BTC as change back to his wallet in ADDRESS A
Betty buys something from Charlie for 0.75 BTC.  Betty sends 0.75 BTC to ADDRESS C, and sends the remaining 24.419 BTC as change back to her wallet in ADDRESS B

So far I think we can all agree that:

• Alfred has 25.112 BTC in ADDRESS A. They all "came from" the block mined by Alfred
• Betty has 25.112 BTC in ADDRESS B. They all "came from" the block mined by Betty
• Charlie has 1.25 BTC in ADDRESS C. 0.5 of those bitcoins are "from" Alfred's block, and 0.75 of those bitcoins are "from" Betty's block

Next, Charlie pays one of his employees (David) 0.8 BTC.  And now, the whole concept of figuring out where the bitcoins "came from" falls apart.

Charlie funds his transaction with both of the outputs supplying a total of 1.25 BTC of value to the transaction.  Then his transaction creates a 0.8 BTC output for David.

There is no way to tell which of the following is true:

• 0.75 of David's bitcoins are from Betty's block, and only 0.05 BTC from Alfred's
• 0.5 of David's bitcoins are from Alfred's block, and only 0.3 BTC from Betty's
• 0.4 of David's bitcoins are from Alfred's block and 0.4 BTC from Betty's
• Any other combination that adds up to 0.8 where no more than 0.75 are from Betty's block and no more than 0.5 are from Alfred's

If David now sends you 1 satoshi, it is impossible to tell whether that satoshi "came from" Alfred's block or Betty's.

[Joel_Jantsen]

This is simply impossible for a reason.Think of bitcoin as in terms of an actual $10 note.Now if you want to find and trace out where that note actually came from you have follow a chain of traces which won't lead you anywhere because the generation of the note will be unknown.Yes we know the Reserve Bank prints the notes out but in case of bitcoins the coin could have generated through any miner which keeps it untraceable.